3. role of the father Flashcards
ATTACHMENT TO FATHERS
Perhaps the most basic question about the role of fathers is whether babies actually attach to them and, if so, when.
Available evidence suggests that fathers are much less likely to become babies’ first attachment figure compared to mothers.
Schaffer and Emerson they found that the majority of babies first became attached to
what % of fathers were the primary attachment
their mother at around 7 months.
In only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment.
In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother.
However, it appears that most fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of the babies studied by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months. This was determined by
the fact that the babies protested when their father walked away - a sign of attachment.
Grossmann carried out a longitudinal study where babies attachments were studied until they were into their teens. The researchers looked at both parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the quality of their baby’s later attachments to other people.
He found:
Quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence This suggests that attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.
However, Grossmann et al. also found that the quality of fathers’ play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role from mothers - one that is more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with emotional development.
FATHERS AS PRIMARY ATTACHMENT FIGURES
There is some evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver, they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers.
Field filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers.
She found
Primary caregiver fathers, like primary caregiver mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating, and holding babies than the secondary caregiver fathers. These are all part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony which are part of the process of attachment formation.
So, it seems that fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focused primary attachment figure - they can provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment but perhaps only express this when given the role of primary caregiver.
CAREGIVER VERSUS ATTACHMENT FIGURE
A primary caregiver is the person who spends most time with a baby, caring for its needs.
A primary attachment figure is
the person to whom the baby has the strongest attachment.
AO3: strength of THE ROLE OF THE FATHER
practical application - advice
One strength of research into the role of the father is that it can be used to offer advice to parents.
Parents and prospective parents sometimes agonise over decisions like who should take on the primary caregiver role. For some this can even mean worrying about whether to have children at all. Mothers may feel pressured to stay at home because of stereotypical views of mothers’ and fathers’ roles.
Equally, fathers may be pressured to focus on work rather than parenting. In some families this may not be economically the best solution. Research into the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents. For example, heterosexual parents can be informed that fathers are quite capable of becoming primary attachment figures. Also, lesbian-parent and single-mother families can be informed that not having a father around does not affect a child’s development.
This means that parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced.
AO3: limitation of THE ROLE OF THE FATHER
lack of clarity over the question
One limitation of research into the role of fathers is lack of clarity over the question being asked.
The question, ‘What is the role of the father’ in the context of attachment is much more complicated than it sounds. Some researchers attempting to answer this question actually want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures. But others are more concerned with fathers as a primary attachment figure. The former have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. The latter have found that fathers can take on a ‘maternal’ role.
This makes it difficult to offer a simple answer as to the role of the father. It really depends on what specific role is being discussed.
AO3: limitation of THE ROLE OF THE FATHER
findings vary - Grossman vs Lesbian parents
A further limitation of research into the role of fathers is that findings vary according to the methodology used.
Longitudinal studies such as that of Grossmann et al. have suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in their children’s development, involving play and stimulation.
However, if fathers have a distinctive and important role, we’d expect that children growing up in single-mother and lesbian-parent families would turn out in some way different from those in two-parent heterosexual families. In fact, studies consistently show that these children do not develop differently from children in two-parent heterosexual families.
This means that the question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.
